150 Laid Off From Asia Routes

The dreaded respiratory disease SARS has claimed another 150 - not lives - but jobs.

Northwest Airlines, one of the most prolific US carriers in the Pacific, says continuing fears of the often deadly disease have cut into air travel so much that the carrier is forced to cut more jobs.

That word from the union representing pilots, although NWA hasn't yet released a formal statement confirming the pink slips.

Deep Cuts In Big Revenue

About 20 percent of NWA's income is derived from Pacific routes to cities in Japan, China and Taiwan. There are, in all, 13 NWA destinations in East Asia, many of them affected by the SARS scare. The Air Line Pilots Association says these latest cuts, if they're indeed made, will bring to more than 1200 the number of flight crew members furloughed by the first of 2003.

In fact, NWA has lost $1.6 billion and laid off 17,000 workers since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Northwest will park 16 of its Boeing 747-200s, used mostly for international flights.

SARS, first diagnosed in Asia last fall, has so far infected roughly 8000 people. As many as 750 - almost one in ten - have died from the pneumonia-like disease.

FMI: www.nwa.com